Do you flush tampons?

[Anonymous]

OMG, the dog comment dredged up a repressed memory. I stayed at my boyfriend's house, disposed of my tampons in the trash only to have the roommate's dog get into the trash can and pull my period trash all over the apartment. 3 guys lived there. I was the only woman around.

Ugh. That was mortifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I flushed tampons for 30 years. That’s what I was taught. And it’s what was on the instructions throughout my teens and 20s, after which I was done reading tampon instructions. My very environmental college taught me to recycle and bring my own bag to the grocery store, but never taught me to toss tampons. I only stopped flushing them in my early 40s, and after only a couple of years or so switched to a menstrual cup. I’m almost 50.

Same, at this point I'm curious when the instructions finally admonished against flushing, and also when this became a widely acknowledge issue. As vocal as a certain poster is, I think this change is actually quite recent. Of course, I wasn't checking in with the instructions along the way either, and there are other ways I've violated their guidance, especially having come of age during the toxic shock scare. TMI, I think the real reason I stopped flushing, wasn't new awareness, but living in a house with a slow flush, which isn't a sewer line issue, but due to calcified supply lines in an old toilet--regardless it was the sort of nuisance that discouraged any extra flushing and made me reevaluate need to do so. Also most public disposal boxes didn't have placards until more recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, the dog comment dredged up a repressed memory. I stayed at my boyfriend's house, disposed of my tampons in the trash only to have the roommate's dog get into the trash can and pull my period trash all over the apartment. 3 guys lived there. I was the only woman around.

Ugh. That was mortifying.

Yeah, three guys are exactly the sort of dog owning hosts who wouldn't plan for this.

This happened at my BILs 50th birthday party. We were all out on the back lawn, and the family dog dragged out trash from the basement bathroom and spread it all over in an instant, normally that bathroom got no use. To make matters worse, it was more of a work party than family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I flushed tampons for 30 years. That’s what I was taught. And it’s what was on the instructions throughout my teens and 20s, after which I was done reading tampon instructions. My very environmental college taught me to recycle and bring my own bag to the grocery store, but never taught me to toss tampons. I only stopped flushing them in my early 40s, and after only a couple of years or so switched to a menstrual cup. I’m almost 50.

Same, at this point I'm curious when the instructions finally admonished against flushing, and also when this became a widely acknowledge issue. As vocal as a certain poster is, I think this change is actually quite recent. Of course, I wasn't checking in with the instructions along the way either, and there are other ways I've violated their guidance, especially having come of age during the toxic shock scare. TMI, I think the real reason I stopped flushing, wasn't new awareness, but living in a house with a slow flush, which isn't a sewer line issue, but due to calcified supply lines in an old toilet--regardless it was the sort of nuisance that discouraged any extra flushing and made me reevaluate need to do so. Also most public disposal boxes didn't have placards until more recently.

In the 2010 thread that was linked to earlier in this thread, a poster went to the Tampax website to see what it had to say about this. Here is what it stated in the FAQs:

Can I flush the entire thing?

Yes. The Tampax Cardboard tampon, wrapper AND applicator can be flushed in toilets connected to city sewer systems. Frequent flushing of tampons is not recommended for septic systems.

That was 2010. So the insufferable poster(s) who keep speaking so scornfully about how the instructions stopped saying this "decades ago" can STFU.

[Anonymous]

Flush ‘em all. My husband is a plumber and will clean your pipes if and when you have an sewer backup. COVID has been very good to him, lots of drain cleanings means a new Lexus for me and a yacht for us! Happy flushing folks….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.campaignasia.com/article/after-100-years-of-tampon-and-pad-marketing-brands-are-still-struggling-to-embra/468235

It’s funny, people are acting like some of us who got our periods in the 80s and early 90s were a bunch of rubes for not having the common sense to avoid flushing. But if you look at that link, ads at that time were just broaching the topic of whether tampon users were still virgins or not. Common sense changes with the times.

Personally, all I remember about my introduction to tampons was the fear of TSS. We definitely covered that in health class and it made an impression. But flushing? This was the least of our tampon concerns.

I got my period in 94 and never flushed. Flushable wipes still say flushable on them too- and most people (with sense) know you don’t really flush them. So stop excusing your tampon ignorance. It was known in the 80s and 90s you shouldn’t really flush them. And now- people STILL doing it and haven’t figured out they shouldn’t despite signs, despite the box saying DO NOT FLUSH in bold are...very simple minded.

I got my first period in 95. I also knew not to flush. Didn't help that my dad was a plumber and told me no matter what something says on the box do not put anything besides bodily fluids and tp in your toilet. It's an expensive and gross fix if you have a back up. There are flushable wipes today. Everyone knows they aren't really flushable despite what they say on the box. Didn't DC just have a huge sewage leak because of that a few months ago?

[Anonymous]

I lived in a sorority where our poor maintenance man would pull 30 our of the toilet and beg the girls to stop flushing tampons. No toilet can handle it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course not. Where you raised in a barn?

Those with menses in the 80s/90s were told to flush.

No, not all parents were uneducated clods.

I got my period in 1994 and was told from the day my mother first had "the talk" with me that I should never, ever, EVER flush a tampon.

DP. Why so rude?! If you really want this message spread for the greater good, maybe don’t be such a jerk? There are clearly lots of people didn’t know. (Myself included.)

OK, I apologize. I suspect this is a social class issue, and it isn't your fault if you weren't taught the right thing. Sort of the way some people were not taught healthy eating habits.

Now you know, and you can avoid flushing tampons and damaging plumbing.

Good God, you have hit the nail on the head, Bitsy! Of course, the “upper class” is inherently more intelligent and environmentally conscious than the ignorant middle class or “upper middle class” (snort) who predominate these DCUM boards with their “new money” sensibilities. "Uneducated clods" is a perfect description. We should all be as graceful as you and recognize, even as these women of a lesser social class flush their soiled tampons with impunity, that it is not their fault they were brought up this way. In comparison, just think of how those annual charity galas for the Izaak Walton League helped to instill such a fine environmental ethic among the better people in this country. I’m sure it also didn’t hurt to have Mummies who were so much less inhibited about talking about uncomfortable subjects such as periods, due to all the day drinking (wink, wink). And then of course, Consuela was also emtying the powder room wastebaskets twice daily, so that was also helpful. You have explained everything. Thank you for helping us to understand.

Then again, I suppose it is also possible that you were taught differently because your family compounds in Kennebunkport, Southhampton, Hyannis Port, Seal Harbor, etc. had really shitty plumbing.

[Anonymous]

Not after we had to dig up our basement floor because of a sewer clog.

[Anonymous]

Confession: I accidentally flushed this morning after I resolved to do better in this thread a few weeks ago. Old habits die hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From 2001, last bullet

Oh dang, 21st century!

Yes! I didn't think I was crazy and totally did this until reading this thread on DCUM and then doing my own follow-up research. Had been flushing them for years and deliberately bought the ones with the cardboard applicator b/c I thought the applicator was (still) supposed to be flushable. I'm bummed about having to readjust these practices, frankly, but don't want to screw up my plumbing. For me, the flushability of the tampons and applicator was a significant benefit of using them over pads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From 2001, last bullet

Oh dang, 21st century!

Yes! I didn't think I was crazy and totally did this until reading this thread on DCUM and then doing my own follow-up research. Had been flushing them for years and deliberately bought the ones with the cardboard applicator b/c I thought the applicator was (still) supposed to be flushable. I'm bummed about having to readjust these practices, frankly, but don't want to screw up my plumbing. For me, the flushability of the tampons and applicator was a significant benefit of using them over pads.

I actually remember reading these instructions when I first started using them in the 90's. They were definitely labeled as flushable. All ye who instinctively knew this was a bad idea despite the written instructions inserted in the box were just superior, more intelligent, and of a higher social class, I guess. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I flushed tampons for 30 years. That’s what I was taught. And it’s what was on the instructions throughout my teens and 20s, after which I was done reading tampon instructions. My very environmental college taught me to recycle and bring my own bag to the grocery store, but never taught me to toss tampons. I only stopped flushing them in my early 40s, and after only a couple of years or so switched to a menstrual cup. I’m almost 50.

Not flushing them is rather horrifying, gross, and inconvenient after doing it for so long. I may look into the cup option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I flushed tampons for 30 years. That’s what I was taught. And it’s what was on the instructions throughout my teens and 20s, after which I was done reading tampon instructions. My very environmental college taught me to recycle and bring my own bag to the grocery store, but never taught me to toss tampons. I only stopped flushing them in my early 40s, and after only a couple of years or so switched to a menstrual cup. I’m almost 50.

Not flushing them is rather horrifying, gross, and inconvenient after doing it for so long. I may look into the cup option.

Cups FTW. I switched when I had an IUD that was making my periods super heavy, but I have kept it even after having the IUD taken out. My bonus was not having to worry about buying tampons or pads when there were paper product shortages in 2020.

And it’s cheaper. I just replaced my old cup that I used for four years. The cup itself was $40, so over four years I spent $10/year on menstrual products.